The Setup
by TheLazyBlackCat
Summary: Everyone knows that when Dragaunus wants something he can't get himself, he's not one to shy away from forcing someone else into doing his dirty work. But, maybe he should think twice about who he sends out. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything, other then some OCs that might make their way in here. Everyone knows that Disney is the company that owns the Mighty Ducks Animated Series!

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**Chapter 1:**

The night was eerily quiet. The howling echoes of stir-crazy fans cheering for their team had died out less than a week ago when the Mighty Ducks lost the Stanley Cup. It had been a vicious final round that kept everyone on the edge of their seats. A battle that raged for a full seven games, ending in an overtime victory for the Detroit Crank Shafts. The only sounds echoing now were that of six ducks playing an uneven game of hockey by themselves in the empty arena.

Phil was taken aback by the sad sight before him. His team had been eager to play and their excitement palpable throughout their run in the playoffs. But now… He sighed to himself as he made his way down to the player's bench. _I guess you can't win them all_, he thought to himself looking up at the rafters. It would have been nice to add a "Stanley Cup Champions" banner up there alongside the two "Western Conference Division Champions" banners already there.

There was always next year! That's right, he could always cheer them up by talking about how great they'd be next year! They'll practice hard all summer. Analyze their games from this previous season, especially those from the playoff run. They'd be a better prepared team and much more finely tuned this next season.

"Hey guys!" He yelled as he reached for the red trimmed wall separating the bench from the ice. All players slowed to a halt looking over at their hefty manager. "How's about a nice dinner out on the town? On me?"

"What's the catch?" Tanya skated in a small circle, closest to the bench.

Phil was shocked by the accusation. Did they really believe that there'd be a catch to his charitable ways? When had he ever lead them to believe that he only did things for them just to get something in return?! The nerve of these aliens!

"There's always a catch, Phil." Duke skated up to the bench, interrupting the human's mental tirade.

The man paused for a moment, mentally running through a list of times he had-

NO! Now was not the time for such trivial matters. "Nothing", he answered earnestly. He watched as profound skepticism ran through each duck's face, a few brows rising along the way. Phil let his shoulders slump in defeat. Maybe they had gotten to know him better then he would admit to these last two years. "You guys just look so down and out of it," he finally answered. "I thought you might need some cheering up after losing in the final game for the Cup."

The six birds exchanged glances for a brief moment before Nosedive finally spoke up. "It's just a trophy, dude."

"Just a trophy!?" Phil shrieked, startling the players. "Lord Stanley of Preston's Cup is not '_just a trophy_'! It is THE TROPHY which every hockey player aspires to have their name engraved on! This means everything to all players around the world!"

"But not all players from around the world get to play for it," Mallory interjected.

Phil looked her over incredulously. Was he really hearing this?

"Yeah," Tanya joined in. "I mean, I understand that many, um, players from the league are from different parts of the world, but that, that doesn't include _all_ of the best players."

He really was hearing this. These birds had finally flown over the cuckoo's nest.

"Wouldn't a more impressive achievement be winning an Olympic Gold Metal?" Wildwing asked. The blank look and lack of response from the human prompted the team captain to continue his train of thought. "It's an achievement given every four years. It's scarce and very difficult to obtain. And the roster for each team includes players from other leagues aside the twenty-something teams playing in the NHL, right?" Silence filled the dead air as some of the others nodded in agreement while a pair of them shrugged, clearly not knowing what their captain was talking about. "Do you suppose we can participate in the next Winter Olympics?" Wildwing looked gleeful, his smile mirroring his brother's goofy trademark feature.

The manager remained flabbergasted. His team didn't care about winning a Stanley Cup?! No. That wasn't quite right. Had they not cared at all they wouldn't have put all that effort into getting to that final game. Maybe he should spend more time explaining the importance of all the trophies and awards that the league presented each year. He smiled to himself. At least they weren't as depressed as he had originally thought them to be. "I guess you can't win them all," he shrugged.

"So, there was talk about dinner," Nosedive leaned onto the short board. "Is that still happening? On the house?!" he wiggled his eyebrows, emphasizing that last part.

"You'd have to cancel your reservations."

The team looked past their manager to see yet another, much shorter human make his way down towards the bench.

"Hey Kleggie, you here to join in on this dinner par-tay?"

The police captain growled at the nickname. But rather than vocalize his disdain, he pulled out a small box from the inside of his coat, casually tossing it towards the group. "I'm actually here to find the owner of this bad boy."

Nosedive caught the box and tore it open like a child with an early Christmas present. The lid haphazardly floated to the floor, quickly followed by the rest of the box as he pulled out its content. "Dude!" he exclaimed holding up the prize. "It looks like Duke's saber!" he held the hilt up briefly before swinging it in the most awkward slashes that would put any swordsman to shame. "Too bad humans don't have the know-how to make one."

A blade materialized as the young duck swung wildly, causing his teammates to fall back.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing!" Mallory had fallen to the ice in lieu of being sliced in half.

"Opps!" Nosedive dropped the offending piece. "That thing is for reals!" he pointed down at the sword, a look of astonishment etched onto his face. "Where did you get it from, Cap?" his voice was in utter disbelief.

Captain Klegghorn crossed his arms. "The scene of a crime," he informed.

"What crime?" Wildwing perked up.

"We've had a few break-ins this last week. One at a jewelry store and two more at research and development facilities. This was left behind just last night, the fourth hit, at some construction site."

The group turned in unison to face Duke.

"Wha'da ya staring at me fo'?" The grey duck was quickly agitated by the implied thought that must have run through everyone's minds. "I 'ave my saber downstairs," he declared. "'sides, we've already been through this last year. I ain't stole a thing since the Invasion."

Tanya picked up the weapon, studying it thoroughly. "I can't imagine it'd be human made. It certainly doesn't look like it. It really resem-, appear-, um, well, ah, looks like yours." She handed it off to the former thief.

The drake's feathers ruffled slightly in annoyance as he reached out for the weapon. "Mine's downstairs an'-" His eyes widened as he took hold of what he thought was a cheap imitation of his trusty sword. "There's no way…" he whispered to himself once he got a better look at the object.

"So, it is yours?" Klegghorn questioned.

"Yeah," he paused for a moment, deep in thought. "But it can't be."

"Which is it L'Orange?"

"It's mine, but it's not da one I've been carrin' 'round," he looked at the police officer, confused about the situation. "This one was left behind on Puckworld…" His mind raced to try to find a viable explanation as to how it got to Earth, but nothing seemed fitting.

Silence once again filled the empty arena. "This has Dragaunus written all over it," Mallory crossed her arms.

"How would that red dino get a hold of it if it's supposed to be on Puckworld? Didn't we destroy his gateway thingie last year?" Nosedive scratched his head.

"It's his technology. Couldn't he build another?" Grin offered a possible solution.

Tanya brought a hand up under her beak. "I suppose he could, but the problem would be how to power it," she was working the problem mentally. They had thought that Dragaunus' flagship had been stranded at the bottom of the ocean the year before. Unfortunately for them, when they did return to look for the Raptor it was once again gone. It didn't matter how out of power that ship was, Dragaunus always managed to find a way to move his aircraft, a small fact that annoyed the avian group to no end.

"It doesn't matter how it got here. I know it wasn't you who did all the stealing," Captain Klegghorn began as he looked up at the grey duck. The group silently waited for the officer's explanation, their breaths held. "Two of the crimes were committed during the last two games you were playing. There's enough video evidence to support that much. Unless, of course, you happen to have a twin we're not aware of."

That last bit seemed to lift Duke out of his reverie, a small smile on his chipped beak. "I don't think he'd be as good lookin' a bird," he joked with the officer.

"Either way, I'm gonna have to take you in, L'Orange."

"What?!"

"It'll be more of a formality," the officer motioned for the alien to follow. "We know it wasn't you, even if it is your weapon that was left behind. We just need to write up the report, take your statement and all that good, fun stuff. You'll be back in an hour or so."

Duke sighed heavily, but did not protest. It could be worse. He could actually be going to jail for a crime he didn't commit.

0-0-0

Wildwing stared at the map displayed on the large screen before him, a hand under his beak as he studied the locations indicated on the massive computer. There didn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the four sites hit. He nodded, silently asking Tanya to change the display to the list of items taken from each location. Large uncut diamonds, varying amounts of chemicals he couldn't pronounce names to even if his life depended on it, and what he guessed were simple building materials.

"Well, I'm stumped," Tanya admitted leaning back in her seat. "Though, I have to admit, he does keep things interesting. Heehee."

Wildwing looked at the engineer dismayed. He hated to admit it, but Dragaunus' way of problem solving was still very much foreign to them, as was his knowledge of the universe they all inhabited. When the Warlord had first appeared on their home world, many everyday objects that Puckworld's population had overlooked had been used with deadly efficiently against them.

"Don't ruffle your tail feathers, bro. Old dino-zoid will screw up soon enough."

"It's scary he went unnoticed before," the older sibling returned his gaze to the giant screen of Drake-One.

Before he had any more time to ponder the thought further, an alarm flashed onscreen, sending the displayed information into the background as a new map with a point bleeped forward. Its flashing red point indicating the location of the Saurian teleportation energy being emitted.

"Told ya!" Nosedive raced towards the elevator, the rest of the flock following suite.

0-0-0

Nosedive turned the corner of another storage unit quietly to be disappointed by a whole lot of nothing. When they had first arrived at the industrial compound, there were no signs of any suspicious activity. Now he wondered if Drake-One had glitched on them, seeing as how they've rarely heard from Dragaunus and gang in the past year.

Mallory paced past him, placing her hands on her hips and sighing heavily. "Nothing!" She was just as upset as the young blond.

"You think they got away?" he holstered his weapon.

"Pfff!" she ran a hand through her short red hair. "Only if the shopping list was tiny. Those dinosaurs like to lumber around. They have no sense of urgency." A quick glance around the area revealed nothing of importance. "Let's get back. This is a waste of time."

"Rightie-O!" the young duck turned on the balls of his heels and was about to leave when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. "Hey, Mal!" he waved at his partner, getting the other's attention. "Lookie here," he pointed down at the ground.

Mallory went over to her teammate and was greeted by what looked like three sets of footprints in the damp dirt. Two of them were dragging something large and bulky behind them while the third, much tinier, was simply following from the looks of things.

"Gotcha!" her grin was maniacal.

The pair followed the trail until they came upon their pray. The small clearing was wedged between two buildings, with a third currently under construction. The scaffolding overhead gave the two ducks cover as they watched the Saurians fumble around. The dark sorcerer shook his head as the bickering between his two companions continued. They were in the process of moving several industrial barrels into a clearing. What they contained, the ducks didn't know. But if the Saurians wanted them, then it was their job to stop them from taking the barrels.

"Long time no see!" Nosedive announced himself to the enemy. Taking quick aim he easily separated Saurian from barrels. Mallory joined in and soon the reptilian warlords found themselves cornered and well out of the reach of their goal. "You guys 'ought to just give up, man! Make it easier for everyone!" he taunted.

"NEVER! Not until the crate drops!" Chameleon responded dramatically, one triumphant arm shooting skyward.

"It's 'Until the _curtain_ drops', pea-brain!" Nosedive corrected. "Or maybe 'Until the fat lady sings'?"

"Watch it!" Mallory took a hold of the younger duck's wrist, yanking him forward as a large crate fell from above.

Nosedive fumbled, tripping and landing awkwardly on the ground as the falling crate smashed into the spot he had been standing in. "He wasn't kidding!"

Hazel-green eyes scanned the scaffolding overhead, but found nothing. Mallory returned her attention to the giant lizards. They had returned to the barrels and where in the process of teleporting away. She aimed her weapon, but held her fire.

"FLY! Fly my pretty! Nyahahaha!" Chameleon's disembodied voice echoed through the now empty lot as he vanished from sight.

A shiver ran down her spine. That Saurian wasn't completely there and it creeped her out. She looked up once more, trying to figure out how that crate had toppled over. The scaffolding held another three large crates, but they looked to be secured in place. Had the Saurians set that up beforehand? A trap? She turned to her partner with that thought coming into focus. "Hey Nose-"

That thought was cut short as she felt something whiz past her arm. Instinctively wincing, she clutched onto the spot. Taking a quick look she saw the small speckle of blood left behind as her arm began to sting. Years of training automatically kicked in. She moved backwards as fast as her feet could carry her, a series of what looked like daggers buried themselves into the ground where she had stood seconds before, following her every step.

Slamming into a wall behind her, she froze for a moment. Two more daggers dug themselves into the wall next to her as she dodged the incoming projectiles. She finally reached relative safety behind a short stack of bricks, one final dagger embedding itself into the ground next to her foot. She watched as this particular weapon was reeled back, attached on a thin cord. "The hell is this?!" She glanced over at Nosedive, who had taken shelter behind an industrial trash bin.

The blond did not respond, instead he had followed the trajectory of the knives and was locked on to his mystery target. Raising from his spot, he shot two rounds from his blaster only to realize that his target was no longer there. He ducked back behind the trash bin, shrugging at the redhead opposite of him.

Mallory scanned the scaffolding once again, searching for any movement and grew anxious as she saw none. They had to move. Their enemy knew where they were, but they had no idea where their enemy was. "Dive, run!" she ordered, getting to her feet and retreating.

Nosedive didn't question the order and followed her out the same way they had entered the little clearing. Halfway down the building, a glint caught his attention from above. He instinctively turned his body, barely being grazed by a dagger as it whizzed down and embedded itself an inch from the tip of his boot. His clear blue eyes followed the thin cord attached to the blade back up in time to see a figure descending on him. He yelped as the body slammed into him, forcing him onto his back. Opening his eyes wide, he found the figure perched on top of him, a blade held high in one hand. His blood ran cold as the sharp object descended and he shut his eyes tightly. "MOM!"

"UFF!"

The weight disappeared and he peeked a nervous look. Mallory stood over him, her blaster drawn and a shot fired. "Got him!" she exclaimed before turning to look down at the younger duck on the floor. "Mom? Seriously?" a wicked smile spread across her bill as she snickered at her macho teammate.

He frowned, clearly embarrassed. "She was a very tough duck," he explained as he turned to look at his assailant laying a few feet away.

The figure was much smaller than he had first though. It was currently slumped over facedown, struggling desperately to get free of the tether binding of a bola-puck, but to no avail. A pair of daggers attached by metallic cords lay slightly out of reach. The weapons reminded him of the Earthling's kunai that he had seen in his comics. And… where those feathered hands? And a beak?!

"Dude," Nosedive rose to his feet, eyes wide while dusting himself off, "Is that… a duck?!"

Mallory growled, holstering her puckblaster with disgust. "Yeah, looks like it," she came up to the downed duck. "Looks like Dragaunus fixed that gateway. I can't believe he would send another duck after us."

"I can't believe anyone would still work for old fossil-breath after all this time," Nosedive added.

The figure continued to struggle, ignoring the pair until Mallory came down, one knee pressing into the downed duck's back as she reached for his hands.

"WAH!" the downed duck exclaimed. "Get off, you fat old hen!"

Mallory's hands halted abruptly. A moment of silence engulfed them as the words registered in her mind. "Why you little!" she steamed, losing her cool and flipping the duck over brusquely. Nosedive intervened before anything could happen and both Mighty Ducks paused.

"Dude! You're just a duckling!" Nosedive exclaimed.

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A/N: Please bare with me here, this is an ancient story that I found in an old notebook from back around the times the series first aired. Of course there's had to be some stuff that had to be rewritten in order to make some more sense then that of a babbling 13ish-year-old fan. I hope you guys like it ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** Still don't own the Mighty Ducks Animated Series, and I don't think I ever will.

Anyways, as for the single review I got so far from TheMightyDuck: Thanks for the encouragement, it's really reassuring and much appreciated. For a while after reading that review I was tempted to take out "duckling" and replace it with "kid", mainly because, you're right. We conjure up thoughts of harmless, fluffy, yellow, down-feathered birds with the term "duckling". After much rewriting and second guessing, I decided to stick with "duckling" simply because I imagine that to the Ducks "duckling" could be the equivalent of "kid". I guess I just felt like it adds more flavor and colloquialism to the story. For now, just think of this "duckling" as hovering around the age of 13-15.

Again, thanks for the review (it made my day ^_^).

NOW, on with the story!:

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**Chapter 2**

Duke made his way towards his fellow teammates, riding up to the large battle van on an extra cycle. The avian group was assembled in a semi-circle next to the Migrator. All attention focused on Wildwing as he interrogated someone who stood between Nosedive and Mallory, blocked from the grey bird's line of sight.

"Wha'd I'd miss?" Duke asked as he killed the engine.

Grin was the only one to turn and acknowledge his approach. "Dragaunus' Dimensional Gateway is functional once more. He has sent another duck to try and take us out."

"Or at least distract us," Tanya laughed sarcastically. "I'm not sure how efficient ducklings are at, you know, trying to take anyone out."

"Duckling?" Duke's curiosity piqued.

Tanya pointed out the small figure standing between Nosedive and Mallory as Duke came to stand next to her. The duckling in question barely stood chest high to Nosedive and was tightly wrapped with the thick cords of a bola-puck, scrunching up the fabric of a raggedy dark green sweater. A pouch peeked out from below the sweater, resting snuggly on small hips. Messy chocolate brown hair fell down to mid back and brown matted feathers spoke of little maintenance. The kid looked like a complete mess. Even her boots looked like she'd been wearing them for ages.

"What a waste of time," Mallory crossed her arms exasperated. "Common kid! Tell us something!"

"I don't know anything," the girl's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Let's start with a name!"

The girl fell silent.

"You have to tell us something," Wildwing cut in, his voice softer than usual.

"Common, ducky," Nosedive tired his hand when the girl refused to speak. "We just want to know anything you might know. World domination plans, any mention of belerium crystals, what's next on Dragaunus' shopping list? You know, basics."

Silence.

"Hi, my name's Babes. My family was captured by Dragaunus and unless I do his bidding he'll terminate them!" Mallory began once again in a mocking manner. "See, easy!"

The girl winched, her features twisting as honey brown eyes narrowed dangerously on the redhead. "My family has been dead for years. I'm an orphan from Lyn Province," she responded with a heavy sigh.

"Way to go, Mallory," Nosedive slapped the side of his teammate's arm.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Mallory quieted down, her voice strained with guilt. She had never meant to upset anyone.

Wildwing knelt down beside the girl, removing the Mask in an attempt to be more approachable and less intimidating, his eyes meeting hers. "Whatever's happened, you're safe with us. You don't have to worry about Dragaunus." He placed a massive hand on her tiny shoulder, trying to reassure her. "Can you tell us your name?"

She fidgeted, her features clouding over with anxiety and fear. "Audrey," she barely whispered finally meeting his eyes. "Can you really keep me safe from Dragaunus? He's so terrifying and wicked!" her voice rose a few trembling octaves as tears welled in her frightened eyes.

Wildwing nodded. He understood where she was coming from. Dragaunus was a massive and very intimidating creature to behold. Nothing in all of Puckworld could have prepared you for such a monster, not even the Old Tales. Truth be told, he still occasionally had nightmares about his first encounter with the Saurian Overlord. "You're safe with us," he reassured sympathetically.

A quick glance around the group was received by a sea of agreeing nods.

"Layin' it kinnda heavy there, ain't ya, love?" Duke's amused voice cut through the tender moment.

Audrey's head suddenly whipped around to find the source of the voice, all traces of frail fear disappeared from her features. "It can't be…" her calculating eyes landed on the grey duck. "Duke..?"

"You know her?" Wildwing was surprised for a moment before registering the girl's sudden change in attitude. Her eyes were void of the tears that had welled up only moments ago and her stance was guarded. She was highly alert, her imbuing sense of innocence and fragility gone. "Wait. Where- where you playing us for saps?" his voice was a mixture of surprised hurt and disbelief.

Duke laughed at the team leader's question as he advanced towards the pair. "You've no idea, Wildwing," he mused. He gestured for the girl to turn and she did so without question. Retrieving his saber, he effortlessly cut the cords that bound her.

Audrey muttered a quiet 'thanks' before bashfully turning her gaze up to white drake, smiling uneasily.

"Little punk lied to us!" Mallory spat, disgusted by the thought. "An 'orphan from Lyn' my tail feathers!"

"Actually, that part is true," Duke clarified.

"Two-for-O, Mal! You're on a role tonight!" Nosedive bumped her shoulder as a hiss escaped her.

"Hold on," Wildwing was standing at full height with the DuCaine Mask in place again. "You two know each other?" his finger danced from one duck to the next.

Duke and Audrey exchanged a knowing look and nodded.

"You," the leader's attention was squarely on the girl. "You were going to sucker us into a false sense of security. Why?"

Audrey dug her hand into the pouch at her side, fishing out a small round chip and tossed it at him. "Dragaunus wanted me to plant this on one of you."

Wildwing scanned the chip over with the Mask. It was emitting a low signal, probably a tracking beacon of some sorts. Frowning, he crushed it in gloved hand. Why would Dragaunus want to track any of them? It wasn't like the Saurian didn't know where to find them. After all, he'd already attached their home and base of operations once before. Not to mention that it wasn't too hard to find their schedules for games, appearances, and such for at least the next month in advanced. They weren't exactly hiding themselves. "And then?"

"Head back using this," she pulled out another device from the pocket at her side.

Tanya took the device from the girl and studied it. "It looks like one of their teleporters," she muttered more to herself as she turned it over a few times, trying to make sense of the alien technology in her hands. They had one back at the Pond, unfortunately, it had been fried when the little energy monster used it to travel back to the Raptor. Its short circuited shell useless to her.

"Bro! We can totally get the drop on those sleaze-asaurs with this thing!" Nosedive piped up as he came to stand at his brother's side. "They wouldn't even see it coming!"

"Wait a minute, time out!" Mallory brought her hands up to form a 'T'. "We just met this pint-sized feather who half lied to us and you think it's a good idea to use stuff she's just handing over willy-nilly to barge into the Raptor, guns-a-blazing, like they're not expecting us?"

"Dude," Nosedive laughed nervously, "aren't you normally the one willing and ready to do just that?"

"Not when the enemy is expecting me so blatantly! Besides, we don't ever know her! She could be setting us up!" Mallory retorted.

"I can vouch for 'er," Duke interrupted.

"Your last friend locked Nosedive and Tanya in a room to die," Mallory pointed accusingly. "And then he tried to kill you before double-crossing Dragaunus."

"I never vouched for 'im."

Mallory fell silent, unable to counter that statement.

"It's not like we haven't randomly walked into danger before," Nosedive continued. "Besides, the author's been stuck on this part for, like a month. Might as well transition into the next scene and get this story moving again."

Wildwing eyed the group cautiously before landing on the duckling. She turned to look up at Duke, who in turn nodded, assuring his leader. "Well, this is the first solid lead we've had in a few months. Who knows when we'll find those lizards again."

"Let's do this!" Nosedive pumped his arms above his head.

"I don't like this," Mallory stepped forward regardless of the feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't worry," Tanya held the transporter in her hands as the group closed in around her. "We always find a way out. We're the good guys, after all."

With a final nod from their captain, Tanya activated the teleporter. All seven ducks disappeared in the eerie jade glow of the Saurian device, whisked away to face their mortal enemies on Saurian home turf.

0-0-0

The group rematerialized within the gloomy confines of the Raptor, deep in the belly of the grounded ship. A quick scan of the room suggested that they were in some sort of storage area. The walls were lined with all kinds of working materials and crates.

"This way," Audrey waved at them to follow as she turned to head out the darkened room.

Duke followed without question, gesturing silently for his teammates to do the same. With some unease in their minds, they reluctantly trailed their young hostess.

Twists and turns became familiar to Wildwing and he quietly activated the DuCaine Mask, pulling up an archived map of the Raptor's known passages. True to her word, Audrey was leading them in the direction of the throne room. Satisfied with her actions, his posture relaxed.

A second before they materialized, the Mask of Drake DuCaine alerted the young leader to the teleporting energy of the enemy. The group was surrounded on all sides by Hunter Drones, weapons up and ready for combat. Their sudden appearance had not surprised any of them, what did come as a shock was the sudden attack from the young girl. With incredible speed and agility, she had turned, weaving through the group and singling out Wildwing.

Wildwing lifted his left gauntlet out of reflex and hesitated. There was no way he could shoot a duckling. It was then that his arm was jerked upward. Looking to his side he saw Duke, the tip of his saber piercing his armor. "What are you doing?" he practically yelled.

The grey drake withdrew the blade, forcefully shoving the younger one back. "I got 'er," he didn't bother to look at his captain, eyes trained on the advancing girl.

Audrey did not slow in her pace. She pulled two of her daggers out of seemingly nowhere and flung them with deadly precision. Duke dodged the first blade while diverting the second with a sweeping swing of his sword as he moved forward. Wildwing half watched the fight unfold while trying to keep the Hunter Drones at bay. The girl somehow managed to stay out of Duke's reach, constantly retreating. Even so, the two seemed to move harmoniously, practically synchronized in a strange dance with one another. For some reason Duke faltered in his step. The girl made quick work of the misstep, sending a dagger attached to a chain flying at him, aimed squarely for his chest. The grey drake mentally braced himself for the sharp pain that was to come.

Wildwing stepped in, his shield active, and blocked the incoming projectile. Duke released the breathe he had held in while the white drake took hold of the chain, yanking it with all his strength. The girl lurked forward a few steps, closing the gap between them. Duke took the opening to dash forward, he had to stop her before-

"Ahhh!" Duke crumpled to the ground, a sharp pain coursing through his body as he curled into a small ball on the floor. He looked up to see a pair of Hunter Drones aiming their weapons at him. He wasn't sure where they had come from. His body twitched, the electric shock that had coursed through him continued to make his muscles tight.

"Duke!" Wildwing tried to make his way to his fallen comrade, but was stopped as Audrey rushed him. She swiped at him with the daggers, pushing him back a few fumbling steps as he blocked and dodged each swing. He heard the sharp blows glide off his armor. Finally regained his footing, he lunged forward, body checking the young girl with his massive shoulder armor. He heard the wind being knocked out of her and felt the small body being lifted off the ground. For a split second he felt sorry, even guilty for what he had just done. But he wasn't about to just let himself be beat by some kid.

Wildwing felt a cool breeze wash across his face. Time slowed as he watched the girl tumble backwards, hands outstretched, gripping something. It took a few seconds for his mind to register the object as the Mask of Drake DuCaine. Shocked, he brought his hands up to his face to confirm that he no longer had said Mask. Indeed, it no longer sat on his face and he watched the girl hit the ground a few feet from him with a backwards roll. Momentum pushing her legs over her head before she firmly planted her feet on the ground, stopping in a low crouch. Taking in a deep breath, she smirked up at him, mockingly holding up the prized object.

"No!" He moved forward to retrieve the priceless artifact.

A new cluster of Hunter Drones stopped him in his tracks, causing him to flinch back. He turned to finally notice that the rest of his team had been captured by the overwhelming number of machines and cursed under his breath. It seemed like Dragaunus hadn't been as ideal as he'd previously thought this past year.

"Sorry," Audrey stood breathlessly, clutching her side. "It's useless to Lord Dragaunus, but it's also a pain in his tail to let you keep it." She studied the DuCaine Mask, clearly in awe of the legendary object.

"How is it that a mere duckling could do what three Saurian warlords cannot?" Dragaunus' cackling voice startled everyone. The reptilian Overlord made himself present, pleased with the scene that lay before him. The other three Saurians close at hand.

"It's not for lack of trying, boss!" Chameleon waddled forward. "These birds just tend to be crafty at times," he glanced over at Wildwing who growled at him. Strolling up to the drake, the Saurian chuckled. Morphing into a human that none of his peers would recognize he began quoting an Earthling movie. "Do you feel lucky, punk? Well, do ya?"

"It's 'do _I_ feel lucky'," Nosedive's voice cut through the thickness of the situation.

Wildwing let his shoulders fall, closing his eyes and shaking his head embarrassed of the blood ties he shared with that particular duck. Of course his little brother would know that and not waste such an opportune moment to show off his useless knowledge. It was at times like these he wished he had those telekinetic powers that the characters who inhabited his brother's comics did just so he could smack him upside the head from afar.

All eyes turned to the young blond as he shrugged. "What?" was his only defense.

"Lord Dragaunus," Wraith's slender form folded upon itself as he approached his master. "We should dispose of these pillow stuffings while we have the chance."

"I thought the plan was to make them watch in despair as Lord Dragaunus took over this world," Audrey addressed the old creature.

"This discussion does not concern you, duck," the dark sorcerer sneered, making the duckling retreat a few steps.

"I'm sorry," she cowered, her voice small. "I was just under the impression that Lord Dragaunus wanted them to be humiliated by their failure."

Wraith growled menacingly, furthering the girl's retreat until she came to stand alongside Chameleon. Pleased with himself, he returned his attention to his Lord. "It would be unwise to let them live."

"Someone thinks highly of himself," Audrey muttered under her breath. Chameleon caught her little tirade and chuckled. She fidgeted as another growl from the horned Saurian reached her, his hearing was clearly still sharp for his ancient age.

"I like her," Chameleon chuckled patting the girl on the head. "Can I keep her, Boss? I'll make sure to feed and walk her every day!"

The girl brushed the scaly green hand away, clearly not as amused as the Saurian.

A deep rumbling emitted from the Saurian Overlord. His yellowed eyes dancing from one captive to the next as he smirked wickedly. "Disarm them and toss them in the holding cells. They will watch as they fail to protect this world the way they did their own."

The massive Saurian stalked up to the duckling, stretching out a hand to her. It took her a moment to register that he wanted the Mask of Drake DuCaine. Begrudgingly, she handed it over. "And after I'm done draining this measly planet of every last drop of energy it possesses, I will send you all into limbo," he held the fabled Accursed Mask in taloned hands, glaring at it. This tiny thing had secured his ancestor's downfall many generations ago. He sneered at it with great disdain and a foul taste in his mouth, but decided to keep the useless object as a small trophy. It would forever be a reminder of his victory over this small group.

"Dammit all!" Mallory cursed, angrily kicking dead air as she was held down by a number of Hunter Drones.

"Take them away!" Dragaunus bellowed.

The Hunter Drones did their master's bidding, supervised by Seige as the other three Saurians left, the duckling trailing not too far behind them. She gave the group one last look before disappearing behind a corner.

Wildwing swore under his breath as they were gathered up and forced to march deeper into the enemy ship, his team grumbling as they were collected and lead away. He happened to catch Duke's eye, silently questioning him about the situation. The grey duck slowly shrugged, leaving an uneasy feeling in the younger drake's stomach.

* * *

A/N: Fun times to be had by all!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Mighty Ducks Animated Series, not even in my dreams...

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

"This is the last time I trust anyone Duke knows!" Mallory fumed as she paced back and forth in her cell. She glared at the duck in question in the cell across form hers. He was lucky that they were in separate cells. Oh, how she wanted to throttle him! "Lying, treacherous, manipulated, lost little brat!" she spat angrily.

Duke bit down on his tongue. The verbal altercation with the redhead wasn't worth it.

"Anger clouds one's judgment," Grin's soft voice floated from the end of the cell block.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mallory shot back. Though the question was asked, she knew exactly what he was getting at.

"Audrey is neither lost nor being manipulated."

"Are you hearing yourself, Grin?!" her voice rose in disbelief.

"Dude! Grinster! Did you miss the part where she stabbed us in the back?" Nosedive joined in the conversation. "Oh, and then the part where she gave the Mask of Drake DuCaine to our numero uno enemigo! She's totally being played by that Saurian sleazeball! Not that I blame her for being afraid of him."

Grin fell silent. His meditative state not at all encroached upon by the situation he found himself in. A calm and collected mind allowed one to preserve the obvious path which is obscured by tense emotions. "Your anger blinds you to the simple truth: she _is_ the one manipulating the situation."

"And that's any better?" Mallory felt like tearing out her hair.

"She isn't manipulating us," he clarified.

The cell block fell silent as his words sunk in, each duck lost in their own thoughts.

"I kinnda got the same feeling," Wildwing spoke up. "If anything, she seemed to be playing on Dragaunus' ego. Though, I don't think she's fooling Wraith."

"Bro! She totally tried to axe you!"

"If she wan'ed 'im dead, he wouldn't be 'ere no mor'," Duke finally spoke up. "There's a good reason fo' wha' she did."

"A good reason that not even you know," Tanya pointed out.

"Ther' wasn't really time fo' an in-depth conversation," he quibbled.

Tanya snorted. That was putting it lightly. Her light eyes wandered towards the ceiling of her cell, trying to find a weak point. But without her omnitool it would be rather difficult to break free. Her head lolled back towards the energy barrier and her eyes fell on Duke. He trusted this duckling very much, anyone could see that. A thought sprang back into her mind. "H-h-how do you know her, anyways?"

Duke sighed heavily. He'd rather not talk about the matter, but he needed to give his teammates some sort of explanation and a reason to trust her. "She's my sist'r," he shrugged, deciding not to beat around the bush.

"Sister!?" Nosedive nearly chocked on the word.

"N-n-no way!" Tanya stammered looking over at the grey drake across the aisle from her.

"For real?! She's young enough to be you're daughter!" Wildwing was bewildered. Duke's claim seemed highly improbably, but then again, Grin was younger then he was. The world was an odd place.

"Audrey?" Grin lifted his head, finally recalling the name. "From Brook City? The one Canard disliked?"

Duke sat up surprised. It took him a moment to guess how Grin knew of his little sister. He supposed that at some point Canard had mentioned her to him and wondered what the pervious team captain had confided in the calm drake about the girl. "Yeah, that's her," he nodded.

"You know her, Grinster?" Nosedive questioned.

"No," Grin stood from his spot. "We did not meet. I only know of her in passing. She allowed Canard, Duke, and I to escape before the Saurians took complete control of the city. I hadn't imagined she was related to Duke. Or that she'd be so… young." He heard Duke chuckle lightly from his cell. "I am truly grateful for her assistance back then," his voice grew lighter.

"You're welcomed," Audrey's quiet voice startled them. She stood at the end of the cell block, no one had heard or seen her approach.

"You!" Mallory spat.

"Yes, me," she ignored the angry hen, nearing Wildwing's cell and deactivated the barrier.

The young leader eyed her suspiciously, looking past her to make sure she was alone. Happy with her solitaire appearance, he exited the cell. He moved quickly to release his teammates on his side of the aisle as Audrey released those on the opposite side.

The instant the barrier of her cell was shut off, Mallory reached for the young girl, catching her by the collar of her sweater and slamming her into a wall. "Why should we trust you again?" her creamy feathers ruffled, her beak inches away from the girl's.

"Let 'er go, Mallory," Duke warned from his cell.

Wildwing quickly stepped in to defuse the escalating situation, forcing the militant duck to release her grip on the girl while placing himself between the two. "She let us out. She's not on Dragaunus' side."

"And what's stopping her from turning on us again?" she challenged her captain, her stance wide and unmoving.

"She doesn't stand to gain anything by double-crossing us twice," he countered. "Besides, Dragaunus' goons weren't too happy to see her either."

Mallory took in a deep breath. Her hazel-brown eyes darted down towards the girl standing behind the drake. She hissed under her breathe and removed herself from the situation. If that duckling did betray them again, not even Grin would be able to stop her from getting to that girl.

She paused at Duke's cell, eying him suspiciously before releasing him. He had a nasty habit of keeping them in the dark, even after all this time. But now was not the time to drill him for information. She'd question him later, after they got out of their current situation.

"Thanks, sweet-"

"Don't you dare 'sweetheart' me!" she warned sternly, a solitary finger brought up under his bill menacingly. "After all this time _you_ still don't trust us," her piercing gaze locked to his.

"A-a-alright you two," Tanya stepped in. "You can continue this when, you know, we get out of here."

"We need to get the Mask of Drake DuCaine back first," Wildwing reminded.

"Dragaunus has that. He seems to be obsessed with it," Audrey informed. "But the rest of your stuff is down the hall. Common," she began to exit the cell block.

"I don't know," Nosedive crossed his arms. "I'm kinnda with Mal on this one. You're pretty shady, Ducky."

The girl paused at the door. Turning, her eyes danced between Mallory and Nosedive before a heavy sigh escaped her. "Look, I was scared and I didn't know what to do. I have a not-so-merry band of Saurians watching my every move who've made it perfectly clear that I am disposable. I know that if I do what they want, this world will suffer just like Puckworld. I didn't want to help, but what could I do?" She paused, shrugging her shoulders and gazing at the floor. "Then I ran into you guys. I knew that you would stop Dragaunus if I could get you back here, but I couldn't think of a way to do so without raising his suspicions. So I lied to get you here. And now you're here and Dragaunus is too busy gloating and doing his own thing to even realize that I'm missing."

"Still not buying it, Ducky," Nosedive responded with a deadpan look on his face.

"Whatever," Audrey exited annoyed. "Dragaunus has been building up an army of Drones. He said that he'll be ready to conquer this world once he starts producing belerium, whatever that is." Her voice grew fainter as she disappeared into the hallway beyond, not caring if any of them followed.

Duke hurriedly chased after her. "Love, my saber?" he called after the girl, his footsteps growing distant.

Grin silently exited, pursuing the pair.

"What the hell?" Mallory looked around at the remaining team confused. "Are we really gonna fallow her again?"

Wildwing stood thoughtfully silent. "You wanna just hang out here?" he asked before following the others cautiously. He couldn't quit put his finger on it, but he did trust that girl. He didn't know how to explain it and didn't want to waste time trying. It was a gut feeling. He'd survived through the Invasion and work camps on instinct back home, he wasn't about to start second guessing himself now.

"Ah, man! Seriously!?" Nosedive trailed after his brother.

Mallory breathed a heavy sigh. "We are gluttons for punishment," she followed the pair, Tanya nodding at her side.

0-0-0

Dragaunus watched from his perch as the assembly line below him continued in full. He had never been a patient Saurian, prone to falling into fits of deafening anger with ease. His tempter had been legendary from as far back as he could recall. Many claimed it was due to his privileged linage and spoiled upbringing. But, if one were to believe that, then his siblings would also be prone to his same temperament. They did not even come close.

Patience was a virtue that he had only recently acquired. And patience, he was slowly learning, was allowing him to inch closer to his ultimate goal without repercussions. He hadn't arisen the ducks' suspicion in the little under a year since their last major encounter. He had been able to amass the materials needed to create his robotic army without anyone realizing, not even the humans had suspected his involvement in their missing supplies.

Of course, the second part of his plan required he revisit old alliances. Dr. Phineas Viper was essential in gathering the majority of the chemicals and other materials required to create the synthesized belerium that would bring his Drone army to life. The good doctor had even gone as far as to offer one of his many out-of-commission facilities to the Saurian Overlord for the production of the low quality crystal, no doubt in hopes of learning how to produce it himself. Dragaunus decline, preferring to keep the production in-house and away from prying eyes.

"Ah, boss?" Chameleon's crackling voice reached him. "I know we're building an army here, but if we keep this up we'll have a whole galactic fleet in no time. And we already have them ducks. I don't think the humans will be much trouble now."

"Patience," the Overlord purred. It was true that he had finally managed to capture those water fowl. He had never expected that tiny duckling to be so useful. When presented with his request for an easily controllable prisoner who was gifted with sleight of hand, he was furious to lay eyes on the pathetic scrap of feathers and fabric General Lung had sent him from Puckworld. The Dimensional Gateway was hard to open, requiring more energy than he had to spare. He was livid at the sight of the tiny duckling.

But the girl, it turned out, was a skilled thief. Nowhere near the same caliber as Falcone, but she fulfilled her job with the ease of a seasoned criminal. There had been a fumbling setback along the way, but it was nothing that brought attention to him. Whatever her dreary story had been, she was clearly an asset to be exploited for his operations.

Siege entered the assembly room, his burly form lumbering forward. "Lord Dragaunus, the production for the belerium has started."

"Excellent," the tall Saurian turned, pleased that everything was finally going his way. He stalked out of the assembly room, his two minions close behind. Turing down a number of winding corridors, the three entered another gallery, this one less active. The room was dedicated to producing the synthesized belerium, it was a poor substitute for the original crystals, but it would have to do until he found a better energy source.

His keen eyes roamed across the room, making sure that all materials and equipment were running accordingly. A shiver of excitement raced through him and a crafty leer graced his cracked lips as everything was going to plan.

His glance finally came to the end of the production line. His work station was nestled in the corner, a mass of books, paper, and random equipment all strewn about. Years' worth of critical thinking, trial-and-error formulas, and all kinds of ideas littered ever available surface, as well as most of the floor.

An unfamiliar glint from atop a stack of books caught his attention. The Accursed Drake's Mask sat among the heap of notes, its mere presence infuriating him. A few short hours of studying the ancient trinket revealed a very deceitful secret he was sure neither Wildwing nor any of his kind could ever hope to unravel, much less imagine in their wildest dreams. There was a reason that the Accursed Mask was so proficient in finding Saurian energies. A very treacherous reason indeed…

A gentle rocking and muffled sound from deep within the Raptor brought Dragaunus out of his profound thoughts. "What was that?" he sneered calmly, barely containing his ever growing anger while throwing his underlings a very hard look.

"Umm, earthquake?" Chameleon shrugged.

"GO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED!" Dragaunus snapped. His bellowing voiced echoing sharply in the cavernous room.

"Quite fooling around!" Siege clonked the little green lizard on the head. "Common," he ordered impatiently, making his way towards the door. He motioned for a few Hunter Drones to follow them out into the hallway. Chameleon's shrill little voice could be heard, arguing as he trailed behind the much larger Saurian.

Dragaunus groaned. Even in Limbo, there weren't many Saurians left and he was stuck with these dull, dimwitted beasts. Before he could make his way over to his workbench, Chameleon came racing back into the room, ducking an onslaught of pucks. "How did they get out!?" Draganus snarled, his nostrils flaring.

"I don't know, boss!" the little Saurian took cover behind a table as Siege and a single Hunter Drone returned.

The ducks, lead by Wildwing, entered right behind them, immediately veering to the left. They ignored the Saurians for a beat as they quickly picked off the few Hunter Drones who were hard at work making the belerium crystals before proceeding to destroy the laboratory's set up. Once they were satisfied with the damage inflicted, they turned on the Saurians.

"No!" Dragaunus was having a hard time believing his eyes. If he hadn't known any better, those birds seemed to know exactly where everything was. A beaker exploded next to him, causing the proud reptile to take a few steps back. "NO!" he wailed. He watched in horror as the small group of ducks continued to destroy his laboratory and another explosion rocked the ship. "Get them out of my ship!" he bellowed.

"How do we do that, boss?" Chameleon ducked behind a table as a puck ricocheted off.

The Saurian Overlord took hold of the tempered armor plate which protected the little green lizard's hunched back, lifting Chameleon with ease. "Teleport them out of here!" Dragaunus ordered with a thunderous roar.

Before the small Saurian could ask how, he found himself flying across the room. His fall was broken by a pair of feathered bodies as they half caught him and half protected themselves against the makeshift projectile. Even over the loud insults of the ducks, Chameleon head Dragaunus making his demands furiously. The little reptile fumbled to find his teleporter as a hand slammed into his face and another violently yanked at his tail. He flicked his teleporter to life, instantly disappearing from the room with a pair of ducks.

"What are you standing around for?!" another bellow caught Siege off guard. If it weren't for his hefty size, the orange Saurian was sure his Lord would have flung him across the room as well.

Siege gathered his wits about himself before barreling forward in his attack. He could see the redhead and grey duck take a few steps back, surprised that their stupid lil pucks weren't slowing him down. The largest of the ducks stepped in at the last second before he nailed the other two. Still, his momentum pushed all three ducks back as he made contact with them. He flicked his teleporter on, and the four disappeared from sight.

Dragaunus sneered at the afterglow of the teleporting bodies. Five ducks were now out of his ship, leaving one cowardly avian hiding in his laboratory.

Wildwing.

"Find that pest, and bring him to me," he growled at the small group of Drones that showed up as reinforcements.

The Saurian Overlord caught something white move out of the corner of his eye and turned to fire his wrist mounted laser without a second thought. The stack of books on his table exploded, sending the Accursed Mask and papers flying as Wildwing dove for cover once more.

"I will pluck every last feather off your miserable body before dumping it in a deep fryer!" Dragaunus derided, prowling up to where the white bird had hidden. The Hunter Drones proceeded to flank the now wreaked table.

Wildwing could feel his heart trying to leap out of his throat as his stormy eyes landed on DuCaine's Mask. It lay way out of his reach and he was sure he'd get shot down before getting anywhere near it. "You can do it, Wildwing! Just a little further!" he pumped himself up. Taking one last deep breathe, he sprinted forward with his shield up. He felt the pressure of the lasers pushing his arm back as they made contact with the shield, but that didn't matter. The Mask was only inches away.

A sudden jerk caught him off-guard. It felt as if the back of his collar had gotten caught on something and he suddenly found the world spinning around him before being slammed onto the metallic floor. He groaned in pain, blinking the stars out of his eyes while trying to catch his breath as he turned onto his side. A heavy weight landed squarely on his chest, efficiently pinning him down.

Dragaunus leered at the drake held under his foot, his talons digging into the white armor. "You have been a thorn in my side for far too long, duck," his voice was dripping with venom, his talons cracking the armor. "Don't worry, your 'team' will follow you soon," the Saurian Overlord aimed his laser the duck.

A dagger flew into the laser, causing the weapon to spark before blowing up. The large Saurian took a step back, releasing the drake under him as he startled by the new development. His slited eyes quickly landed on the tiny duckling he had all but forgotten about. No doubt, she had something to do with this whole mess.

Audrey came rushing in, squaring her shoulders up, and lunging at Dragaunus. She hit the Saurian with all the effects of a flea trying to tackle an elephant. The little duckling literally bounced off Dragaunus, landing flat on her back next to Wildwing.

"What the hell was that!?" Wildwing picked up the girl like a piece of luggage, putting distance between himself and Dragaunus.

"I thought I could knock him down! Like in the movies!" Audrey grumbled sorely.

"You're worst then Dive!" he abolished.

"Ok! So it wasn't my brightest idea!"

Before he could counter with a retort, a body materialized before Wildwing. He ran straight into it before he could even think to dodge it. Chameleon shrieked as he was run over, and Dragaunus' voice once again bellowed in the destroyed room. The little Saurian didn't think twice, smacking the button on his teleporter and whisking whomever had run him down out of the Raptor.

"STOP!" Dragaunus roared. He watched infuriated as the ducks escaped, disappearing from sight with Chameleon. Releasing one final deafening roar, the Saurian Overlord turned on the Hunter Drones present. One by one, he took out all of his pend up rage on the machines.

0-0-0

Chameleon managed to squirm his way out from under the two ducks. He raced up behind Siege for protection, who was trying to hold off the other ducks. A rather difficult task while being out in an open field.

"Where's the backup?" Siege growled.

"Who cares!? The duckies are all out of the ship! Let's get out of here!"

The Saurians disappeared once again, retreating back to their ship.

"They got away!" Mallory huffed angrily.

"Surprise, surprise," Duke replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Bro! You're alright!" Nosedive raced to his brother's side, helping him up. "I thought you were a goner!"

Wildwing rubbed the side of his head momentarily before looking around frantically. "Where's the Raptor? We gotta go back!" The team captain located the ship looming over a row of trees a few meters away, tendrils of smoke rising out of it. He stumbled to his feet, breaking into a sprint in the direction of Dragaunus' flagship. "Drake DuCaine's Mask is still in there!"

The Raptor slowly elevated, bringing the drake to a dead halt. The team watched the Saurian warship take off and vanish into the evening sky before their eyes.

"No…" Wildwing scanned the sky, dark blue eyes darting from one direction to the other. His brows furrowed deeply as he was filled with dread. Dragaunus still had the Mask of Drake DuCaine in his possession.

The evening air filled with the songs of multiple crickets as the team stood in the clearing, all looking skyward in disbelief.

"This is all your fault," Mallory growled, turning her attention to Audrey. The little duckling sat silently, rubbing her shoulder. "If you had just-"

"What's done is done," Wildwing cut in, his snowy face still transfixed up to the evening sky. "We might not have the Mask of Drake DuCaine with us anymore, but we still have Drake-One. So long as we have some way of finding Dragaunus, we still have a shot at finding the Mask as well," his voice trailed off. He wondered if his team would buy that line as he found it hard to swallow himself.

"Dude," Nosedive settled a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "It's not like it's the end of the world," he spoke softly. "I mean, Tanya could probably whip up a replacement lick-idy split. Right, Tanya?"

The engineer looked back at the young blond. "No," her simple and crisp answer leaf no room for debate. "I've tried to figure it out, but I can't. I mean, it's ancient technology, but I-I-I can't repro-, repro-, err, copy it."

"But you fixed it last time!"

"I only mi-mi-mimicked the circuitry around it," she returned her gaze upwards. "It, um, took over a week to fix, you know, a single inch of DuCaine's Mask."

Wildwing turned to look at her. She had run tests and tried for a whole year to solve the Mask's mysteries. But even she hadn't been able to understand the simple things like how it was powered, the configuration of the circuitry, even the program it seemed to be running was an enigma. His gaze returned to the heavens once again, a heavy sigh escaping him.

Mallory heard Duke chuckle and her ire returned to her in an instant. They had just lost the Mask of Drake DuCaine, their most important weapon in their fight against the Surians, and here he was, having a laugh about who knows what!? She turned to face the grey bird and duckling angrily, before her words caught in her throat.

The rest of the team turned their attention to the pair. Their eyes widened. Audrey held the Mask of Drake DuCaine in one hand as she continued to pull papers and a notebook out from under her sweater. She snickered as Duke pulled her into a tight hug.

Wildwing rushed over to the young girl, gliding to a stop on his knees alongside her. "When..?" was the only thing he managed to get out.

Audrey peeled herself out of her brother's arms and offered the legendary object to the white drake. "Right after Dragaunus caught you by the collar," she handed the Mask of DuCaine back.

Wildwing took the Mask, immediately placing it on his face and sighing in relief. There were no words to describe the crushing felling that had suddenly been lifted from his shoulders. "Thanks," he found himself mussing the girl's dark hair before her small hand swatted his away, her smile growing ever bolder.

0-0-0

"Bit of an overkill, don't you think?" Audrey glanced up at the mega-computer that occupied the large room as the team walked into their headquarters.

Tanya shrugged. "I'd like to see you do any better with Earth's available technology." She still considered the monolith one of her crowing achievements given the materials at her disposal.

"Don't be causin' trouble," Duke warned teasingly.

"Speaking of which," Audrey looked around. "Where's Canard? I'd like to break his kneecaps for lying to me."

All eyes widened while a few beaks nearly hit the floor. Utter and complete disbelief was written across all of their faces.

"Not cool, Ducky!" Nosedive was shocked and very upset by the remark. Canard might have been his brother's best friend, but that didn't mean that he didn't consider the tan duck anything less than family. The three had grown up together, they were practically brothers.

The blond chanced a glance at his brother and was not surprised. Wildwing's bill hung wide open, words escaping him and eyes wide. Nosedive's attention returned to the girl as Duke moved towards her hurriedly.

The grey drake reached out to clamp the girl's beak shut. He held on tightly as she tried to escape his vice-like grip. "Canard sacrificed 'imself ta save us all," he informed sternly, making a sweeping gesture towards the rest of his teammates. "Don't ev'r let me 'ear ya disrespec'ing 'im again," he released her.

"Oh…" Audrey squirmed under the hard looks she was receiving. "I didn't know…"

An awkward silence fell upon the group before Grin spoke up. "You are forgiven, little one."

"Yeah," Wildwing's voice finally returned to him. It was an innocent mistake with no real malice behind it, right? At least he hoped she didn't really dislike Canard enough to actually want to break his knees. She had to be joking… right? He shook that little episode from his mind, reminding himself that she wouldn't have known. Grin was right, there was no reason not to forgive her.

"Geez, just how old are you, Ducky?" Nosedive's feathers were still ruffled. How his brother managed to forgive others so readily was beyond him.

"Thirteen," she answered meekly, still looking like she wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear forever.

"Fifteen," Duke countered instantly.

"Thirteen," Audrey repeated herself slowly and purposefully. "I know how old I am."

"Y're fifteen," the grey drake brought a hand up and counted off two fingers. "Ya were thirteen when I lef' with Canard ta take out da Master Tower. It's been ov'r two years since then."

"No," she drew out the syllable to emphasis his blatant mistake. "I'm thirteen. It's only been seven months since you took out the Master Tower. Since then, the remaining Saurian have fought among themselves for control. Half of Puckworld is still-"

"Wait! Did you just say seven_ months_?" Mallory was sure her ears were failing her. "We took out the Master Tower two_ years_ ago. We've been stranded here on Earth for _two years_."

Audrey shook her head slowly. "The Master Tower was destroyed seven months ago. Practically all Saurian weapons went down when it happened and-"

"That's impossible!" Nosedive nearly choked on his own words. "We've definitely been here for over two years!" His wings were flailing as he expressed his disbelief. If he continued to flap like that, Audrey was certain that he would fly away.

"That doesn't make any sense," Wildwing's features were all scrunched up. "Is that even possible?" he turned his attention to Tanya, hoping for a simple, easily digestible answer.

"How should I know? I'm an engineer, not as astrophysicist!" Tanya burst out as the others turned to her for an answer. It wasn't her area of expertise, but she cranked her mind to make some sense of it all either way. "Well, we did, you know, travel through dimensions. That means traveling through space and time. T-t-there's obviously a huge difference in how time passes between Earth and, um, Puckworld, or, um, I-I-I really don't know," she shrugged helplessly. She would have to do a lot of reading on the subject before she could come to any solid conclusion. The problem now was that she would have to rely on human literature on the matter. She doubted that mankind had the profound understanding of the physics of the universe needed to answer the question, but it was always worth a shot. "Or, you know, we could just ask Dragaunus," she laughed sarcastically.

The elevator doors opened, pressurized steel plates hissing as they revealed one of those beakless creatures that Audrey had seen. Apparently, they came in all shapes, colors, and sizes. This one was heavy set, bouncing with each awkward step it took. "Funny looking one," she muttered to herself.

"Just Phil," Nosedive eased back onto the console of Drake-One.

"Where have you guys been?! You missed the Grand Opening of Big Tony's Pizzeria!" The man stalked up to the group ignoring the sighs and groans emitting from the team. "If you keep missing any more appearances, no one will want to book you again!"

"Is that a promise?" Mallory looked hopeful.

"Over my dead body!" Phil snapped back. He looked them each in the eye before realizing that there was a new face among the group. He studied the brown feathered duck before looking his team over once more, his questions clearly visible on his chubby face.

"Phil this is Audrey. Dragaunus brought 'er here from Puckworld. Audrey, this is Phil, you can ignore 'im," Duke stated quickly.

Phil was quiet, the gears in his mind working overtime as he continued to aggressively eye the new duck. His chubby face finally lite up and the team could practically hear the ringing of a cash register go off. "More hockey playing ducks from another dimension! This is a gold mine!"

"No," Wildwing responded without a second's hesitation. "She's not 'on the team' and you're not using her to make any sort of profit."

"Wildwing, bubula! Think of how we can share your cultural heritage with even the little ones of Earth with the new face of pee-wee hockey!"

"No." Now that Phil was squarely fixated on him, Wildwing stepped away from the group, Phil following close behind. He'd methodically lead Phil back to his office, denying his request and every variation of it every step of the way.

As the pair stepped into the elevator, Phil suddenly realize what the team captain was doing. Unfortunately for him, the elevator doors closed before he could make his move back out.

Silence reined over the remaining ducks before a pair of them began to snicker. Phil was starting to catch onto their newer tricks and distractions.

"This place is weird," Audrey finally muttered, her eyes glued to the elevator door.

"You'll get used to it," Nosedive shrugged. "Welcom to Earth, Ducky!"

* * *

A/N: I think I wrote way too much, but I didn't want to break this into two pieces. I wrote so much that I even have a bonus chapter after this!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Mighty Ducks Animated Series. Not one bit of it.

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**BONUS CHAPTER**

The beeping machine demanded attention, its tiny red light flickering at regular intervals. Tanya took the device and read its findings. Satisfied with the results she sterilized it and put it away with the rest of the first aid. "The fever broke," she informed.

Duke looked up hopefully before returning his attention to Audrey, pushing chocolate brown hair back. She was still breathing heavily and bundled under a mountain of blankets. The fever had taken the better of three days to finally subside. He felt a great weight lift off his shoulders at the good news.

Tanya sat on the opposite side of the bed, placing a hand on the hot forehead and smiled to herself. They had all gotten sick when they had first arrived on Earth, even Falcone had been miserably ill shortly after being imprisoned. She figured it had something to do with their bodies acclimating to Earth-borne illnesses. Ailments ranged from a slight dizziness and headaches to Wildwing's nearly two week long fever. Nosedive had been just as concerned for his older sibling as Duke was for his. She herself didn't have any siblings and found it endearing to see how protective they could be of one another.

"You should probably get some rest, Duke. I could, you know, watch her for a while."

The grey bird only shook his head. "I'm fine," he answered quietly.

"If you don't take care of yourself, you'll end up worse than her," she cautioned.

Duke looked up at his teammate. She could have easily passed off as some sort of medical provider with her profound medical knowledge. But the lack of such a title attached to her name and her more intimate understanding of electronics and engineering spoke otherwise. Either way, he had always believed that the whole team would be lost without her, even if she didn't always believe so herself.

The long silence stretched between the two as they watched the girl sleep. Unlike Wildwing, she'd hopefully be up and about in a day or so.

"So, umm, who is she?" Tanya didn't bother to hide her prying at all.

Duke looked up, confusion written across his face. "My sist'r…"

The blonde tilted her head slightly and regarded the answer. "I know that's what you said, but, um, you know, she's like, young enough to be your daughter."

"Not da first I've been told so," he chuckled.

Tanya shook her head. No one had questioned his claim that he had a sibling. But something didn't feel right about it. She felt like they couldn't be related. No one on the team really spoke in depth about their pasts, and it was certainly rude to go around questioning such matters. The little that they knew about one another was usually tid-bits that they had given up over the past two years. But she was perplexed and her scientific mind would not allow her to rest until given a decent answer.

"What makes ya think oth'rwise?" Duke questioned softly.

"Your ages, for starters," the response was automatic and without censor. "You're not alike, and, well, you have a different type of protectiveness over her then, um, say, Wildwing and Nosedive do for each other."

"I don't think Dive an' Wing look alike at all. An' 'sides, they're guys. Ya don't get dat protective over a kid broth'r like a sist'r. Y're arguments are invalid." He looked rather smug with that last statement.

"I didn't say they _look_ alike," she shook her head brushing off that look as she clarified her argument. "I implied that they _are_ alike. Like, in the way t-t-they talk and their posture and stuff like that. Wildwing even gets that goofy smile that Nosedive has practically trademarked. And, while he might not notice it, Nosedive tends to, you know, holds himself like his brother. Probably just his way of, um, looking up to Wildwing without even realizing it." The two brothers had clearly been inseparable the whole of their lives. Her glance shifted down towards her patient before looking up at the drake again. "In the little time that she's been here, she's never done anything that reminds me of you. Your mannerisms and even speech are very div- diver-, um, different."

"You're sharp'r than a sword," Duke chuckled merrily. Turning fully towards her, he brought his legs up onto the bed and crossed them, making sure not to disturb Audrey as she continued to rest between them. "Nah, we're not related," he confirmed. "It just makes things easi'r to say she is. Less trouble, less odd looks, an' all."

Tanya smiled boldly. Of course her observations had to pan out to something. "Then why not just say she's your daughter? That'd be more b-b-believable."

"'Sist'r' comes with less follow-up questions," he answered honestly. "When she's a sist'r, no one asks 'bout 'er moth'r or pities dat she's bein' raised by some dead beat criminal. Things like that."

Tanya nodded. It made sense. "So, what's the story?"

She was actually being nosey for once, causing the drake to laugh at her open brazenness. Nonetheless, he gladly obliged to her curiosity. "Do ya recall dat border conflict in Lyn Province, back home? Da one in Yanbla?"

Tanya nodded, her brows furrowing as she began to regret asking.

"I was passing through at dat time and got caugh' up like da rest of da city when da fightin' broke out between da Alliance an' Special Forces. In all da panic, I picked up a 'lil duckling dat'd been left behind. Aft'rward, I tried lookin' fo' 'er family, but couldn't find nobody. I didn't want ta leave 'er at one of them orphanages, those places were abysmal." He paused for a moment, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. "So I did wha' any stupid duck would an' decided to raise 'er the best I could. I love 'er like my own family. I'd do anything for 'er."

Tanya nodded, her curiosity satiated and her mind at rest. "I'm sorry to hear that." A ping of sadness touched her to learn about the tough world that these two had been a part of when a sudden thought popped into her mind. "Where you part of the original Lynesse Resistance?"

Duke nodded. "Ev'ryone from the province retreat'd back to Brook City and fought hard to keep it from bein' taken ov'r. It was 'ard to get food an' supplies, but we managed it some'ow. Unfortunately, we also fell to Saurian forces." There was a hint of sadness to his voice. No doubt it must have been a hard blow to have held out for almost a year before finally being taken over by the Saurian invaders.

"Is that where Canard found you? In Brook City?"

"What is this? An interrogation?" he sat up straight, startling her. "Did Mallory send ya?"

Tanya guffawed. She supposed she was starting to sound like the redhead. "S-s-sorry, I-I-I didn't mean to, you know, pry."

"Sure ya didn't," he snickered at her. "It just feels odd ta be givin' up so much without knowin' any'hing 'bout ya guys," he shrugged.

A soft smile tugged on her bill. "I'm the only hatchling of Mareen and Vint Flockton IV. Father was a renow-, a recogo-, err, really famous doctor and wanted me to follow in his steps. But I think I disappointed him a little as an engineering student at, umm, Anatidae University. I-I-I had full honors and stuff while there. I was engaged before the Invasion, and, well, you know, joined the Resistance after breaking out of a work camp. I don't think my parents made it, though. I was away at school, half way across the continent, and never made it back home, so I don't really know. A-a-anyways, Canard was amazed with my knowledge. I don't know why. I-I-I mean, there are a ton of smarter ducks out there then me. And, well, now I'm stuck here. In a strange dimension. Rambling again."

Duke was stunned by the sudden admission. It wasn't exactly what he was expecting to hear at all. The amount of information that flooded out of the blonde floored him. "You were engaged?" was the only thing that managed to come out of his beak.

She sat quietly, twiddling her thumbs and nodded. "Well, ya. But, umm, he didn't quite make it out of the camp," her voice softened. She wanted to reach up and pull out her engagement pendent from around her neck, but decided against it. She had decided a long time ago to keep that small part of herself from her teammates. It was, after all, inconsequential.

"I'm sorry, sweet'eart," he reached over placing a hand on her arm. "I didn't mean no ha'm." He felt like a jerk for having brought up what must have been heartbreaking memories.

In typical Tanya fashion, she simply took a deep breath and brushed it all off. "It's alright. We all went through the same Invasion. I-I-I'm not the only one who lost family and friends."

Regardless of that statement, he lightly squeezed her forearm, letting her know that he was there for her anytime. She smiled sweetly, thankful for his friendship.

"Though, Mother would lay a few dozen eggs if she knew I was friends with a criminal," she joked, lightening the moment.

It took a moment for him to register her change in mood for the better. "I wasn't always on the wrong side of the law!" he defended himself.

"Mallory doesn't seem to think so," she chuckled.

It didn't matter how long they had known one another, there were just some things that Mallory couldn't fully accept about Duke. She out right rejected the notion that he had fully reformed from his thieving ways. Her belief was that he would never have changed on his own if not for the Saurian Invasion. A few heated arguments and some choice words later, Duke finally agreed with the redhead. Giving up his old life had never crossed his mind had the circumstance not forced the end of that chapter of his life. And since there was no love lost between the two, he didn't really care what she thought about him. She trusted him enough to live in the same building and to play on the same team, but she didn't seem willing to place her life in his hands entirely. And that was fine with him, so long as she didn't run her beak off at him.

"Well, once I sav' a few lives I'm sure even Inspector Javert will change 'er tune," he declared.

"Who's Inspector Javert?" a harsh, raspy voice drifted up from under the blankets.

"Ahh, y're awake and eavesdroppin' again?" he looked down at his adoptive sister, a soft smile on his chipped beak.

"Never been asleep," Audrey responded. "Who's Javert?"

"A charact'r in an Eart'ling book. He was a police offic'r who couldn't believe dat a man would change 'is ways."

"Oh," Audrey tightened her hold on the blankets, snuggling into the pillow. Her honey brown eyes searched out Tanya's. "Javert has this bird pegged right, don't ever let him tell you otherwise," she warned with a sly look.

Tanya laughed as she glanced up in time to catch Duke's shocked expression. "I-I-I figured his smooth talking had to come from somewhere."

"Ahh! So now ya don't trust me eith'r?" he acted indigent of the situation placing a hand over his heart while tilting his head down, eyes closed in mock pain. "I'm crushed, sweet'eart!"

"HA! You'll live," the engineer stood while ignoring him. Gathering up her equipment, Tanya gave one last glance at the duckling under the covers. Audrey smiled sheepishly at her, a soft 'thanks' escaping her small beak. "No problem," she returned the gesture before turning to leave.

"Tanya," Duke called out as the door to his room opened. She paused at the doorway, glancing back at the grey bird. "Thanks, really. I don't know how ta ev'r repay ya an'-"

"It's nothing" she cut him off, bringing a hand up. "B-b-but seriously, take a break or something. You're gonna, like, get yourself sick or something and I don't wanna have to be taking care of you."

"Yes ma'am," he responded. "And, well," he rubbed the back of his neck rather unsure of himself, "I'm sorry if I said anyt'ing out of line."

Again, she simply brushed it off. "No worries," was her quiet response before exiting the room.

~ * End * ~

* * *

A/N: So I know that I'm probably gonna get some feedback about Tanya's last name, so I'll address this here. As far as I'm concerned, anyone can edit Wiki pages. I can not for the life of me find any official page or sketch or anything else that actually saids her last name is Vanderflock (or any of the other last names mentioned in the Wiki pages [though I have to admit, Flashblade is a pretty sweet name]). I have no idea where these names come from since we were only given Mallory and Duke's last names in the series. And to the best of my knowledge, the comics in the Disney Adventure Magazines didn't give last names either.

Anywho, I hope you guys enjoyed this lil story. Please tell me what you think. And I will hopefully see you in the next story. Happy Holidays to you all as well! ^_^


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